January 31, 2008
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Healthy Eater’s Dilemma
- Cheryl’s Soup Kitchen
- New Year’s Evolution - FREE Audio and workbook
- FREE Wellness Pack (7 Keys to Embracing a Wellness Lifestyle)
Healthy Eater’s Dilemma - taste or waste?
In my lifetime I’ve probably eaten 5 store-bought frozen meals. Last week, I surprised myself by purchasing three Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers(R). Normally, I don’t even walk down the frozen food aisle. Now here’s another surprise–I didn’t read the label before I bought them. And the final surprise–I enjoyed them!
January was a particularly busy, stressful month and my eating plan got way off track. Plus it’s been really cold and dark (and because I don’t eat cereal for dinner), I defaulted to the American way of eating without cooking. I don’t know why it took me this long to succumb to frozen entrees. Everybody’s eating them! At lunch time in every breakroom, microwaves hum and trash cans overflow with empty boxes and plastic food trays.
Here’s the plus side of these frozen Cafe Steamers(R). They’re relatively inexpensive (at least the introductory price was), they taste good, the ingredients aren’t too unhealthy, and they kept me from having to cook or run out to a restaurant in the cold, dark night. And they’re a satisfying meal at 250-300 calories.
I can’t believe I’m singing the praises of these pre-packaged convenience foods! I’ve snubbed frozen meals for 30 years. But when you read the content in the blue box below, you’ll see why, in my frazzled condition, I was mesmerized by the product promotion and steamer technology.
Our innovative product line utilizes a new and unique microwave Steam Cooker™—so you can lock in all the naturally fresh
flavors of restaurant-inspired meals by steaming them yourself. With new Healthy Choice Café Steamers, vegetables stay bright and crisp, meat and seafood are juicy and tender, rice is moist and fluffy, and pasta is firm. These meals will tantalize your tastebuds and satisfy your appetite to eat right.
Now here’s the downside. The plastic steamer in every boxed meal gets used once and then is tossed into the landfill along with the rest of the package. I’m an 
environmentalist, so that hurts me. As much as I’d like to stock my freezer with these little, delightful steamers, I can’t bring myself to buy even one more. The “technology” behind the steamer (on the right) is really quite ingenious, and I can’t fault the manufacturers for that–they’re trying to keep the HUGE frozen food market happy and steal as many customers as they can from the other frozen food giants.
So how can I steal their idea and make my own frozen meals? Well, easy. They give the secret away–frozen food tastes better if it’s steamed when cooked–so I’ll steam my own frozen meals. I can spend a couple of hours cooking one sunny Sunday and then package and freeze my own Cheryl Miller Steamers. When I’m ready to eat, instead of steaming them in the microwave (which I’ve all but sworn off using), I can steam them on the stove using equipment I already have on hand. And if I want to take a hot meal to go, I can use my vacuum sealed hot food thermos which keeps food hot for several hours. Voila! No need to use a microwave with that set up and no packaging to throw away.
READERS — COMMENT ON THIS DILEMMA
I’d like to hear from you dear readers. Has this article sparked an opinion in you?
- Do you eat frozen meals?
- Do you feel that you need to eat on the run but worry about the “green” dilemma of frozen food packaging?
- Do you have any solutions?
Comment at the link at the very, very bottom of the page. I want to know what YOU think.
To your healthy, happy, green life! 
Cheryl’s Soup Kitchen (ebook and audio)
Soup has many virtues. You can use it as a super weight loss strategy or as a nurturing cold weather ritual. And you can dramatically improve your diet by eating soup. Soup is versatile–eat it as a snack or for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Eat it cold or hot–with friends or snuggled up on the couch after a long day. On a cold day, soup is like a warm blanket. It’s the BEST fast food on the planet.
Soup can be one of the most satisfying and nourishing meals you eat. But this program isn’t just about making soup. It’s about streamlining your kitchen and your preparation processes so you can make soup fast . . . and eat it slow. It’s also about healthy eating and inspiration for cooking and eating at home.
You get 2 60-minute audios, recipes for soups and sides, and a beautifully illustrated ebook. >> more info
Fee: $19.00 Ebook and 2 60-minute audios
F R E E Teleclass Audio and worksheets
New Year’s Evolution™: Choosing a Theme for the Year
that Excites & Ignites You! Here
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Cheryl Miller is a wellness expert and life coach. She specializes in helping people take action to live a healthy, happy life . . . in this lifetime. Get the Healthy, Happy Living monthly newsletter and free Wellness Pack. Sample issues here: www.cherylmillerville.com/newsletter
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As Cheryl's technology and business strategist, I've learned a new meaning to the word "sticktoitiveness." Far from being an ivory-tower, health primadonna prancing around in a leotard, Cheryl is a real, approachable person who doesn't hestitate to share her own life experiences and challenges. 
January 31st, 2008
I don’t buy the meals because the calories may be low but as a diabetic the carbs are not always favorable and the sodium is usually off the charts. I too love the environment and try to be concious of what I am tossing so I too am not in favor of frozen meals.
I prefer to cook ahead a few things and use that freezer space I am blessed to have. I still have young children at home so it’s important for them to see how the kitchen works, so we cook a lot together and that makes it less of an effort and more fun when there is a team to help clean up too!
Thanks for the enlightenment about the waste of prepackaged food! ~V
January 31st, 2008
Cheryl, I have to admit, I was surprised by your reason for not wanting to buy the steamers. First, I avoid frozen foods because the preservatives most often used can be a migraine trigger so it’s not worth it — that and the fact that my husband refuses to eat frozen food and he’s the cook and food buy in the house!
I too am an environmentalist so i can relate to your issue — but you know there are crafters out there who could find something to do with those cute little steamers! I am not the most creative crafter but those things could be painted and “tarted up” to hold gifts for a baby shower; maybe a collection of things for a college student who could then use the little steamer as a catchall — I’d use it for scraps while scrapbooking — the steamer is actually the perfect size! As I scrapbook I don’t use the trash for my scraps because I recycle the paper scraps — I could use this, it’s small, would fit on my table and i could dump paper scraps from it to the recycling box and voila — instant use for something that would go away. Now, i can’t use 5 million of them, but I think you get the idea…. of course it’s only a delay, but it’s something.
January 31st, 2008
Inasmuch as these quickies are tempting, I love my cooking too much and there are usually preservatives added. One other reason is I find those meals too small. I take my lunch to work and it always includes at least a full cup of cooked brocoli or cauliflower and a salad, usually the already cut cabbage (coleslaw) to which I add my homemade vinaigrette and some grain - either quinoa or couscous or some other small portion of carb and a small piece of meat or fish - I pass on the sauce. Lunch is my mail meal. With that kind of lunch, I am not starving at 5 p.m. and I eat a light dinner. If I know I won’t be able to eat at my regular lunch time, I carry a V-8, some walnuts, an apple, an orange or a banana, even a sweet red pepper. And I make sure I don’t let that happen often. Because I eat super-healthy at least 80% of the time, I allow myself treats without feeling guilty.
January 31st, 2008
I liked your idea about keeping our landfills clean of such items as the plastic steamer in the steamer pack. I work two jobs though and it is hard for me to have time to precook. What I do is save any plastic dishes that come in frozen dinners like that and put them in my recycling bin at home. That way I get to enjoy the convenience of meals on the go without littering our landfills with unwanted plastic.
January 31st, 2008
I always appreciate your thoughts Cheryl. I haven’t stopped for fast food or looked at the frozen food section for many years, but last week ordered some Chinese to be delivered. I saw shocked and dismayed at the volume of Styrofoam that was used to package my meal.
What happened to those cute little cardboard boxes? How can we enjoy a little convenience and a new flavor without adding to the landfills?
I freeze a portion of whatever I make and put it in a portable, reusable container. Ho-hum!
Thanks for all you do!
Imagine the Possibilities!
Kristin Kopp
http://www.quantumattractions.com
http://www.beingglad.com
January 31st, 2008
I love this little flurry of activity. I posted this so we could all discuss, so I honor each and every comment. We don’t always have to agree.
I’m glad people have found clever ways to use the steamers and that they’re being recycled in some ways. Trouble is that 99.9 percent of the people who use them don’t recycle or reuse in some clever way. If we did….that would be another story.
I understand that while recycling is fabulous, not using the resource in the first place is much better because recycling is imperfect - it’s expensive, not everything can be recycled, not everything that can be recycled is recycled, and I know there are other reasons. Any recycling experts out there who can add to this list?
In upcoming comments and articles, I’ll share more ideas about how to eat healthier without too much hassle. But the ideas presented in these comments are fabulous. Keep the ideas coming. I do recognize that we can’t just say “Don’t use this extremely convenient path” without offering healthier, convenient alternatives. More to come!
January 31st, 2008
I thought you were going to say they had alot of sodium in them. The steamers could be recycled not thrown away
January 31st, 2008
I would rather make and freeze my own food which my husband and I do already